Thursday, August 30, 2007
 From AP August 29, 2007: "A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Louisiana's attorney general can't sue the Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims who don't have lawyers.
The emergency order by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came on the day of the deadline flood victims had to file suit -- the second anniversary of Katrina. The order negates a lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Charles Foti earlier Wednesday.
The appeals court said that U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval acted without proper authority in appointing Foti as guardian for about 350,000 people with claims against the Corps.
Duval had agreed to let Foti sue the Corps on behalf of lawyerless claimants who had not yet filed suit.
[...]Joseph Bruno, lead plaintiff attorney, criticized the 5th Circuit's ruling, saying it would likely cut out many people from pursuing action against the corps.
"Every time you turn around, the government is sticking it to us, trying to limit their liability," Bruno said.
[...]On Feb. 2, Duval ruled the Corps of Engineers can be held liable in a case alleging a navigation channel called the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet caused much of the flooding in eastern New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish.
Buoyed by that ruling, lawyers filed a suit against the Corps, alleging that dredging on the 17th Street Canal caused the flooding of most other parts of the city.
The Corps has argued it is shielded from suits by the 1928 Flood Control Act. The Corps has acknowledged that some of the flooding was caused by poor designs and faulty engineering on the 17th Street Canal. But the agency says the [MRGO]Outlet did not contribute significantly to the flooding.
----- Labels: Katrina
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